Provenance: Image by Jennifer Wenner, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

The Math You Need, When You Need It

"What if you could include more quantitative content in your introductory geoscience courses without spending valuable class time teaching your students math? If you could improve the mathematical skills of the majority of your students, including those who are already skilled in mathematics?Recent uses of The Math You Need, When You Need It (TMYN) — student-centered, online quantitative modules focused on introductory geoscience — suggest that you can. Since spring of 2010, TMYN has been used in conjunction with geoscience courses at 13 four-year and 10 two-year institutions impacting the mathematical skills of more than 1,500 students (See Table 1 on Page 2). Data from these implementations of TMYN suggest that completing the modules improves students' mathematical skills and that they are useful at a wide variety of institutions."

Quantitative Writing: Using Short Writing Assignments to Teach Data-Based Argumentation

"On our campus we call it by various names—rhetorical mathematics, rhetorical numeracy, or quantitative literacy across the curriculum. Whatever the name, we mean the same thing: Teaching students to be critical readers and writers of arguments that use quantitative data for evidence ('Quantitative Writing'). In selected core (i.e., general education) courses, students write papers in which they must interpret numbers, use them judiciously for evidence to support their own claims, and display them effectively in graphs or tables. In professional or scientific disciplines, teachers design short, vertically integrated assignments that teach new majors how disciplinary experts argue with data using various professional formats and styles. The goals of our program are similar to those pioneered in the QM4PP (Quantitative Methods for Public Policy) program at Macalester College (St. Paul, Minnesota) or the QuIRK (Quantitative Inquiry, Reasoning, and Knowledge) program at Carleton College (Northfield, Minnesota). Specifically, we want students to understand that numbers tell stories, to analyze how numbers are used in arguments, and to use numbers both ethically and persuasively in making their own arguments."

Connecting Quantitative Literacy and Geology

H.L. Vacher, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida

"Students develop specific skills and habits of the mind as they learn
to analyze quantitative information in a literate, reasoned, and
problem-solving way. Such skills are essential if people are to be able
to meet the mathematical demands of their lives and to deal with
quantitative and mathematical concepts during their years in school.
Many education organizations, recognizing the importance of these skills
and habits of mind, have developed curricula, programs, and metrics
focusing on what the American Association of Colleges and Universities
(AAC&U, 2007) calls "quantitative literacy" (Vacher, 2011). In its
Liberal Education & America's Promise vision statement, AACU lists
quantitative literacy as one of its Essential Learning Outcomes. Earlier
reports, including the influential "Crowther Report" (Ministry of
Education, 1959) also pointed out the importance of quantitative
literacy and referred to it as 'numeracy.'"

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A Carleton College student thinking through deformation history on a trip to Baraboo, Wisconsin. Photo by Tim Vick.

Provenance: Tim Vick, Carleton CollegeReuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

Learning to Think Spatially

"Spatial thinking is fundamental to the geosciences, for tasks as diverse as understanding atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns; visualizing groundwater flow, the Earth's magnetic field, crystallography, and structural crosssections; and interpreting seismic reflection profiles. Furthermore, spatial thinking is not a single skill. The tasks listed above require a variety of spatial skills, including visualization of 3D objects, patterns and motions; penetrative thinking (imagining the interior of an object); and disembedding (seeing relevant data in a noisy pattern). Unfortunately, there is no formal teaching of spatial thinking skills in the K-12 curriculum. As a result, students arrive in undergraduate geoscience classrooms with a wide range of abilities in this area (e.g., Murphy et al., 2011). A number of studies, in geoscience education and in cognitivescience, have shown that spatial skills do improvewith practice (e.g. Titus and Horsman, 2009). However, average gains over a single semester tend to be quite modest. It is therefore cogent to consider how we can facilitate the development of spatial thinking skills in our geoscience courses."

Provenance: Photo courtesy of the US Geologic SurveyReuse: This item is in the public domain and maybe reused freely without restriction.

Math and Science "Placed" in Context

Have you longed for new approaches to interest your students when learning the core math concepts needed for success in your geoscience course? Perhaps approaching the subject from a place-based, culturally connected perspective would help. That is what we did in the Kéyah Math Project, funded by the National Science Foundation under the Opportunities for Increasing Diversity in the Geosciences program. Our team of university and K-12 educators and cultural experts developed 13 free, place-based, mathematically infused online modules for use in a range of geoscience and environmental science courses (Schaufele et al., 2006). Although we developed KM with a specific population in mind (Native American students in the Southwest U.S.), the modules and the design concepts are much more broadly applicable.

Web Features

NAGT, its members, and its sponsored projects have produced a
number of resources related to quantitative reasoning and teaching with data. Some collections of these resources are highlighted below.

Quantitative Literacy and Reasoning

Teaching Quantitative Skills in the GeosciencesThis website provides information on the issues involved in teaching quantitative skills and methods and activities for doing so as well as additional resources and a community
of other faculty who are all attempting this challenging task.

Teaching
with Spreadsheets Across the CurriculumTeaching with Spreadsheets
Across the Curriculum uses modules with short PowerPoint presentations to guide students to build spreadsheets to solve one or more mathematical problems
in the context of their courses. The students determine the cell
equations that produce the calculated numbers shown on the spreadsheets.
Examples are provided.

Mathematics and Statistical
ModelsThis module provides basic information about mathematical and statistical models, how they can be used in the classroom, and provides activity examples
that utilize both.

National Numeracy
NetworkThis organization offers its members a network of
individuals, institutions, and corporations united by the common goal of quantitative literacy
for all citizens. Through national meetings, faculty workshops,
research initiatives, and information sharing, the National Numeracy
Network aims to strengthen the capacity of our country in the
quantitative areas of business, industry, education, and research across
all disciplines. This site includes access to the NNN journal, teaching resources, and other information
about NNN.

Spatial Thinking

On the Cutting Edge Spatial Thinking Journal ClubThis journal club provided an opportunity to dive into the literature on
spatial thinking, particularly in the context of the geosciences, and
to discuss it in depth with interested colleagues. The group met between January and May 2012 to discuss readings from the geoscience and cognitive science
literature, with an emphasis on exploring the cognitive aspects of
spatial thinking and their implications for geoscience education.

Learning to Think SpatiallyThis report explains the nature and functions of spatial thinking and
shows how spatial thinking can be supported across the K-12 curriculum
through the development of appropriate support systems. The report calls for a national initiative to integrate
spatial thinking into existing standards-based instruction across the
school curriculum such as in mathematics, history, and science classes;
it does not require the development of a new, separate course focusing
solely on spatial thinking. The goal of this initiative is to create a
generation of students who learn to think spatially in an informed way.

Teaching with Research and Data

Teaching with Data from Pedagogy in ActionThe module offers background information for teaching with data in entry level geoscience classrooms (what is it, why use it, and how does one use it) as well as a collection of activity examples one can use in their classroom.

Teaching with Data, Simulations, and Models from On the Cutting EdgeToday's geoscience education reaches beyond the traditional teaching tools such as rock samples and topographic maps. With the addition of computers in many geoscience classrooms and laboratories, faculty have unprecedented opportunity to create innovative learning experiences by bringing real-world data sets and models and simulations of geoscience processes into the classroom. This site provides resources to help faculty use data resources effectively and easily, and contains access to teaching materials and tips from the classroom and literature about the supporting pedagogy.

Using Data in the ClassroomThis interdisciplinary portal provides information and discussion for educators and resource developers interested in effective teaching methods and pedagogical approaches for using data in the classroom.

Using MARGINS Data in the ClassroomThis is the first page in a series developed from a 2009 MARGINS workshop. The MARGINS project focuses on plate boundaries and has designed and evaluated teacher-ready mini-lessons for the undergraduate classroom. The decade-long NSF MARGINS program has generated a wealth of data for use in the undergraduate classroom.